Kingston-upon-Hull
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Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a
port city A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...
and
unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
in the
East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...
, England. It lies upon the
River Hull The River Hull is a navigable river in the East Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. It rises from a series of springs to the west of Driffield, and enters the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. Following a period when the Archbishops o ...
at its
confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
with the
Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between ...
Estuary, inland from the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
and south-east of
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, the historic
county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...
. With a population of (), it is the fourth-largest city in the
Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The population in 2011 was 5,284,000 with its largest settlements being Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Hull, and York. It is ...
region after
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...
,
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...
and
Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
. The town of Wyke on Hull was founded late in the 12th century by the monks of
Meaux Abbey Meaux Abbey (archaic, also referred to as ''Melsa'') was a Cistercian abbey founded in 1151 by William le Gros, 1st Earl of Albemarle (Count of Aumale), Earl of York and 4th Lord of Holderness, near Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Eng ...
as a port from which to export their wool. Renamed ''Kings-town upon Hull'' in 1299, Hull had been a
market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
, military supply port, trading centre, fishing and whaling centre and industrial metropolis. Hull was an early theatre of battle in the
English Civil Wars This is a list of civil wars that have occurred in the history of England. * Rebellion of 1088 – a civil war in England and Normandy concerning the division of lands in the Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Normandy between William Rufus and ...
. Its 18th-century Member of Parliament,
William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
, took a prominent part in the abolition of the
slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
in Britain. More than 95% of the city was damaged or destroyed in the blitz and suffered a period of post-industrial decline (social deprivation, education and policing). The destroyed areas of the city were rebuilt in the post-Second World War period. In the early 21st century spending boom before the
late 2000s recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...
the city saw large amounts of new retail, commercial, housing and public service construction spending. In 2017, it was the
UK City of Culture UK City of Culture is a designation given to a city (or a local area from 2025) in the United Kingdom for a period of one calendar year, during which the successful bidder hosts cultural festivities through culture-led regeneration for the ye ...
and hosted the
Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...
at the city’s Ferens Art Gallery. Other notable landmarks in the city are the minster, the tidal surge barrier, and The Deep aquarium. Areas of the town centre include the
old town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...
(including it’s museum quarter) and the
marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...
. Hull University was founded in 1927 and had over 16,000 students in 2022. Rugby league football teams include clubs
Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...
and
Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...
. The city's association football club is
Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
(
EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...
). Hull RUFC and
Hull Ionians Hull Ionians is a rugby union club in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The first team play in English rugby's National League 2 North, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their relegation from National League 1 ...
both play in the National league 2 North of rugby union.


History


Wyke and wool trade

Kingston upon Hull stands on the north bank of the
Humber Estuary The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the ...
at the mouth of its tributary, the
River Hull The River Hull is a navigable river in the East Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. It rises from a series of springs to the west of Driffield, and enters the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. Following a period when the Archbishops o ...
. The valley of the River Hull has been inhabited since the early
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...
period but there is little evidence of a substantial settlement in the area of the present city. The area was attractive to people because it gave access to a prosperous
hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associate ...
and navigable rivers but the site was poor, being remote, low-lying and with no fresh water. It was originally an outlying part of the hamlet of Myton, named Wyke. The name is thought to originate either from a Scandinavian word ''Vik'' meaning inlet or from the Saxon ''Wic'' meaning dwelling place or refuge. The River Hull was a good haven for shipping, whose trade included the export of wool from
Meaux Abbey Meaux Abbey (archaic, also referred to as ''Melsa'') was a Cistercian abbey founded in 1151 by William le Gros, 1st Earl of Albemarle (Count of Aumale), Earl of York and 4th Lord of Holderness, near Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Eng ...
, which owned Myton. In 1293, the town of Wyke was acquired from the abbey by King Edward I, who, on 1 April 1299, granted it a
royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...
that renamed the settlement ''King's town upon Hull'' or Kingston upon Hull. The charter is preserved in the archives of the
Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in some ...
. In 1440, a further charter incorporated the town and instituted local government consisting of a mayor, a sheriff and twelve
aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members the ...
. In his ''Guide to Hull (1817)'', J.C. Craggs provides a colourful background to Edward's acquisition and naming of the town. He writes that the King and a hunting party started a hare which "led them along the delightful banks of the River Hull to the hamlet of Wyke … dward charmed with the scene before him, viewed with delight the advantageous situation of this hitherto neglected and obscure corner. He foresaw it might become subservient both to render the kingdom more secure against foreign invasion, and at the same time greatly to enforce its commerce". Pursuant to these thoughts, Craggs continues, Edward purchased the land from the Abbot of Meaux, had a manor hall built for himself, issued proclamations encouraging development within the town, and bestowed upon it the royal appellation, ''King's Town''.


Prospering port

The port served as a base for Edward I during the
First War of Scottish Independence The First War of Scottish Independence was the first of a series of wars between English and Scottish forces. It lasted from the English invasion of Scotland in 1296 until the ''de jure'' restoration of Scottish independence with the Treaty ...
and later developed into the foremost port on the east coast of England. It prospered by exporting wool and woollen cloth, and importing wine and timber. Hull also established a flourishing commerce with the
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
ports as part of the
Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
. From its medieval beginnings, Hull's main trading links were with Scotland and northern Europe. Scandinavia, the Baltic and the Low Countries were all key trading areas for Hull's merchants. In addition, there was trade with France, Spain and Portugal. Sir William de la Pole was the town's first mayor. A prosperous merchant, de la Pole founded a family that became prominent in government. Another successful son of a Hull trading family was bishop John Alcock, who founded
Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes ...
and was a patron of the grammar school in Hull. The increase in trade after the discovery of the Americas and the town's maritime connections are thought to have played a part in the introduction of a virulent strain of
syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium '' Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, a ...
through Hull and on into Europe from the
New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
. The town prospered during the 16th and early 17th centuries, and Hull's affluence at this time is preserved in the form of several well-maintained buildings from the period, including
Wilberforce House Wilberforce House is a British historic house museum, part of the Museums Quarter of Kingston-upon-Hull. It is the birthplace of social reformer William Wilberforce (1759–1833), who used his time as a member of Parliament to work for the ab ...
, now a museum documenting the life of
William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
. During the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...
, Hull became strategically important because of the large
arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...
located there. Very early in the war, on 11 January 1642, the king named the Earl of Newcastle governor of Hull while Parliament nominated Sir John Hotham and asked his son, Captain John Hotham, to secure the town at once. Sir John Hotham and Hull corporation declared support for
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
and denied
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
entry into the town. Charles I responded to these events by besieging the town. This siege helped precipitate open conflict between the forces of Parliament and those of the Royalists. After the Civil War, docks were built along the route of the
town walls A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an or ...
, which were demolished. The first dock (1778, renamed Queen's Dock in 1854) was built in the area occupied by Beverley and North gates, and the intermediate walls, which were demolished, a second dock ( Humber Dock, 1809) was built on the land between Hessle and Myton gates, and a third dock between the two was opened 1829 as Junction Dock (later Prince's Dock).
Whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...
played a major role in the town's fortunes until the mid-19th century. As sail power gave way to steam, Hull's trading links extended throughout the world. Docks were opened to serve the frozen meat trade of Australia, New Zealand and South America. Hull was also the centre of a thriving inland and coastal trading network, serving the whole of the United Kingdom.


City status

Throughout the second half of the 19th century and leading up to the First World War, the
Port of Hull The Port of Hull is a port at the confluence of the River Hull and the Humber Estuary in Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Seaborne trade at the port can be traced to at least the 13th century, originally con ...
played a major role in the emigration of Northern European settlers to the New World, with thousands of emigrants sailing to Hull and stopping for administrative purposes before travelling on to Liverpool and then North America. Parallel to this growth in passenger shipping was the emergence of the
Wilson Line of Hull Thomas Wilson Sons & Co. was a British shipping company, founded in 1840,Greenway (1986), p. 48 It evolved from a joint venture formed by merchants Thomas Wilson, John Beckinton and two unrelated partners named Hudson in 1822. The company expan ...
(which had been founded in 1825 by Thomas Wilson). By the early 20th century, the company had grown – largely through its monopolisation of North Sea passenger routes and later mergers and acquisitions – to be the largest privately owned shipping company in the world, with over 100 ships sailing to different parts of the globe. The Wilson Line was sold to the
Ellerman Lines Ellerman Lines was a UK cargo and passenger shipping company that operated from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. It was founded in the late 19th century, and continued to expand by acquiring smaller shipping lines un ...
– which itself was owned by Hull-born magnate (and the richest man in Britain at the time) Sir John Ellerman. Hull's prosperity peaked in the decades just before the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
; it was during this time, in 1897, that city status was granted. Many of the suburban areas on the western side of Hull were built in the 1930s, particularly Willerby Road and Anlaby Park, as well as most of Willerby itself. This was part of the biggest British housing boom of the 20th century (possibly ever).


Bombed and battered

The city's port and industrial facilities, coupled with its proximity to mainland Europe and ease of location being on a major estuary, led to extremely widespread damage by bombing raids during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
; much of the city centre was destroyed. Hull had 95% of its houses damaged or destroyed, making it the most severely bombed British city or town in terms of number of damaged or destroyed buildings, apart from London, during the Second World War. More than 1,200 people died in air raids on the city and some 3,000 others were injured. The worst of the bombing occurred in 1941. Little was known about this destruction by the rest of the country at the time, since most of the radio and newspaper reports did not reveal Hull by name but referred to it as "a North-East town" or "a northern coastal town". Most of the city centre was rebuilt in the years following the war. As recently as 2006 researchers found documents in the local archives that suggested a non-exploded wartime bomb might be buried beneath a major new redevelopment, the Boom, in Hull. After the decline of the whaling industry post the Second World War, emphasis shifted to deep-sea
trawling Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch different spec ...
until the Anglo-Icelandic Cod War of 1975–1976. The conditions set at the end of this dispute started Hull's economic decline.


City of Culture

In 2017 Hull was awarded the title of 'City of Culture' by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Within the city there was a series of festivals in public spaces to promote the city and its newly given title. At the start of the year there was a huge firework display attracting a crowd of 25,000.


Governance


Municipal

Following the
Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
, Hull became a
county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...
, a local government district independent of the East Riding of Yorkshire. This district was dissolved under the
Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, on 1 April 1974 when it became a
non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non- ...
of the newly created shire county of Humberside. Humberside (and its
county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...
) was abolished on 1 April 1996 and Hull was made a unitary authority area. The single-tier local authority of the city is now
Hull City Council (Kingston upon) Hull City Council is the governing body for the unitary authority and city of Kingston upon Hull. It was created in 1972 as the successor to the Corporation of (Kingston upon) Hull, which was also known as Hull Corporation and fou ...
(officially Kingston upon Hull City Council), headquartered in the
Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in some ...
in the city centre. The council was designated as the UK's worst performing authority in both 2004 and 2005, but in 2006 was rated as a two star 'improving adequate' council and in 2007 it retained its two stars with an 'improving well' status. In the 2008 corporate performance assessment the city retained its "improving well" status but was upgraded to a three star rating. The Liberal Democrats won overall control of the City Council in the 2007 local elections, ending several years in which no single party had a majority. They retained control in the 2008 local elections by an increased majority and in the 2010 local elections. Following the UK's local elections of 2011, the Labour Party gained control of the council, increasing their majority in the
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
and retained this following the 2014 local elections. They increased their majority by one in the 2015 local elections, but lost it in the 2016 local elections. In the 2018 local elections all of the council was up for election following boundary changes that reduced the number of seats by 2. Labour retained control of the council but with a much reduced majority, while in the 2019 local elections there was no change to the make-up of the council. In the 2021 local elections the Liberal Democrats gained a couple of seats but Labour retained control by just three seats. On 3 March 2022, Labour councillor Julia Conner defected to the Liberal Democrats, reducing the Labour majority to one. The Liberal Democrats won overall control of the City Council in the 2022 local elections to end ten years of Labour rule.


Parliament

The city returned three members of parliament to the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
and at the last general election, in
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, elected three Labour MPs: Emma Hardy, Diana Johnson and Karl Turner.
William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
is the most celebrated of Hull's former MPs. He was a native of the city and the member for
Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...
from 1780 to 1784 when he was elected as an Independent member for
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
.


Geography

Kingston upon Hull is on the northern bank of the
Humber Estuary The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the ...
. The city centre is west of the River Hull and close to the Humber. The city is built upon
alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. ...
and glacial deposits which overlie chalk rocks but the underlying chalk has no influence on the topography. The land within the city is generally very flat and is only 2 to 4 metres (6.5 to 13 ft)
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...
. Because of the relative flatness of the site there are few physical constraints upon building and many open areas are the subject of pressures to build. The parishes of Drypool, Marfleet,
Sculcoates Sculcoates is a suburb of Kingston upon Hull, north of the city centre, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. For many centuries, much of what was called Hull came within the parish of St Mary's Church. Sculcoates railway station closed ...
, and most of Sutton parish, were absorbed within the borough of Hull in the 19th and 20th centuries. Much of their area has been built over, and socially and economically they have long been inseparable from the city. Only Sutton retained a recognisable village centre in the late 20th century, but on the south and east the advancing suburbs had already reached it. The four villages were, nevertheless, distinct communities, of a largely rural character, until their absorption in the borough—Drypool and Sculcoates in 1837, Marfleet in 1882, and Sutton in 1929. The current boundaries of the city are tightly drawn and exclude many of the
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...
's nearby villages, of which Cottingham is the largest. The city is surrounded by the rural East Riding of Yorkshire. Some areas of Hull lie on reclaimed land at or below sea level. The Hull Tidal Surge Barrier is at the point where the River Hull joins the Humber Estuary and is lowered at times when unusually high tides are expected. It is used between 8 and 12 times per year and protects the homes of approximately 10,000 people from flooding. Due to its low level, Hull is expected to be at increasing levels of risk from flooding due to global warming. Historically, Hull has been affected by tidal and storm flooding from the Humber; the last serious floods were in the 1950s, in 1953, 1954 and the winter of 1959. Many areas of Hull were flooded during the June 2007 United Kingdom floods, with 8,600 homes and 1,300 businesses affected. Further flooding occurred in 2013, resulting in a new flood defence scheme to protect homes and businesses, stretching from St Andrew’s Quay Retail Park to Victoria Dock, linking to other defences at Paull and
Hessle Hessle () is a town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, west of Kingston upon Hull city centre. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of ...
. Started in 2016, it was completed in early 2021. The scheme was officially opened on 3 March 2022, by Rebecca Pow. At around 00:56 GMT on 27 February 2008, Hull was north of the
epicentre The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...
of an
earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
measuring 5.3 on the
Richter Scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...
which lasted for nearly 10 seconds. This was an unusually large earthquake for this part of the world. Another notable quake occurred early in the morning of 10 June 2018.


Climate

Located in
Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...
, Hull has a temperate maritime climate which is dominated by the passage of mid-latitude depressions. The weather is very changeable from day to day and the warming influence of the
Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the Unit ...
makes the region mild for its latitude. Locally, the area is sunnier than most areas this far north in the British Isles, and also considerably drier, due to the rain shadowing effect of the Pennines. It is somewhat warmer than west coast areas at a similar latitude such as
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
in summer due to stronger shielding from maritime air but also colder in winter and North Sea breezes keep the city cooler than inland areas during summer. It is also one of the most northerly areas where the July average maximum temperature exceeds , although this appears to be very localised around the city. Flooding in June 2007 caused significant damage to areas of the city. Droughts and heatwaves also occur such as in 2003, 2006 and recently in 2018. The absolute maximum temperature recorded is , set in August 1990. Typically, the warmest day should reach , though slightly over 10 days should achieve a temperature of or more in an "average" year. All averages refer to the 1981–2010 period. The absolute minimum temperature is , recorded during January 1982. Winters are generally mild for the latitude with snow only occurring a couple of times a year on average and mostly only staying for a day or two before melting. It is frequently cloudy and the North Sea winds make it feel colder than it actually is. An average of 32.5 nights should report an air frost. Heavy snowfalls do occasionally occur such as in 2010. On 23 November 1981, during the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak, Hull was struck by two tornadoes. The first, rated as a very weak F0/T0 tornado, touched down in the
Port of Hull The Port of Hull is a port at the confluence of the River Hull and the Humber Estuary in Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Seaborne trade at the port can be traced to at least the 13th century, originally con ...
shortly before 13:30 local time. This was followed several minutes later by a much stronger F1/T2 tornado, which passed through and caused damage to residential buildings across the north-eastern suburbs of Hull.


Demography

According to the
2001 UK census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...
, Hull had a population of 243,589 living in 104,288 households. The population density was 34.1 per hectare. Of the total number of homes 47.85% were rented compared with a national figure of 31.38% rented. The population had declined by 7.5% since the 1991 UK census, and has been officially estimated as 256,200 in July 2006. In 2001, approximately 53,000 people were aged under 16, 174,000 were aged 16–74, and 17,000 aged 75 and over. Of the total population 97.7% were white and the largest minority ethnic group was of 749 people who considered themselves to be ethnically Chinese. There were 3% of people living in Hull who were born outside the United Kingdom. In 2006, the largest minority ethnic grouping was
Iraqi Kurds Iraqi Kurds ( ar, العراقيين الكرد, ku, کوردەکانی عێراق) are people born in or residing in Iraq who are of Kurdish origin. The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Iraq, comprising between 15% and 20% of the count ...
who were estimated at 3,000. Most of these people were placed in the city by the Home Office while their applications for asylum were being processed. In 2001, the city was 71.7% Christian. A further 18% of the population indicated they were of no religion while 8.4% did not specify any religious affiliation. Historically, minorities of many faiths and nationalities have lived around the docks, Old Town and City Centre, coming in from European ports like Hamburg, aided by continental railways and steam-ships from the mid-1800s. Over 2 million passed through Hull between 1850 and 1914, on the way to a new life in America and elsewhere, but some planned or decided to stay. Dutch,
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, Germans, Scandinavians and others were sometimes prominently involved in the life of the port city. They found opportunity but endured discrimination at times, such that these communities have now largely dispersed. Also in 2001, the city had a high proportion, at 6.2%, of people of working age who were unemployed, ranking 354th out of 376 local and unitary authorities within
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...
. The distance travelled to work was less than for 64,578 out of 95,957 employed people. A further 18,031 travelled between 3.1 and 6.2 miles (5 and 10 km) to their place of employment. The number of people using public transport to get to work was 12,915 while the number travelling by car was 53,443. Men in the University ward had the fourth lowest life expectancy at birth, 69.4 years, of any ward in England and Wales in 2016.


Ethnicity


Industry

The traditional industries of Hull are seafaring (whaling and later seafishing) and later
heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...
which both have since declined in the city. Companies BP and
Reckitt Benckiser Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, trading as Reckitt, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in March 1999 by the merge ...
, have facilities in Hull. The city is part of the Humber Enterprise Zone.


Port

Although the fishing industry, including
oilseed Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or f ...
production, declined in the 1970s due to the
Cod Wars The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of ...
, the city remains a busy port, handling 13 million tonnes of cargo per year. The port operations run by
Associated British Ports Associated British Ports owns and operates 21 ports in the United Kingdom, managing around 25 per cent of the UK's sea-borne trade. The company's activities cover transport, haulage and terminal operations, ship's agency, dredging and marine cons ...
and other companies in the port employ 5,000 people. A further 18,000 are employed as a direct result of the port's activities. The port freight railway line, the
Hull Docks Branch Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in af ...
, operates 22 trains per day.


Energy

In January 2011
Siemens Wind Power Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...
and
Associated British Ports Associated British Ports owns and operates 21 ports in the United Kingdom, managing around 25 per cent of the UK's sea-borne trade. The company's activities cover transport, haulage and terminal operations, ship's agency, dredging and marine cons ...
signed a memorandum of understanding concerning the construction of a wind turbine blade manufacturing plant at Alexander Dock. The plan would require some modification of the dock to allow the ships, used for transporting the wind turbine blades, to dock and be loaded. Planning applications for the plant were submitted in December 2011, and affirmed in 2014, concerning blades for the 6 MW offshore model. A site
waste-to-energy Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Mo ...
centre costing in the region of £150 million is also planned to be built by the Spencer Group. Announced in mid-2011, and named 'Energy Works', the proposed plant would process up to 200,000 tonnes of organic material per year, with energy produced via a waste gasification process.


Other

Hull Marina was from the old Humber and Railway docks in the centre of the city. It was repurposed and opened in 1983, it has 270 berths for yachts and small sailing craft. In July 2014, the former Fruit Market was demolished with a technology hub C4DI (Centre for Digital Innovation) built in December 2015. The city has chemical and health care sectors,
Smith & Nephew Smith & Nephew plc, also known as Smith+Nephew, is a British multinational medical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Watford, England. It is an international producer of advanced wound management products, arthroscopy products, ...
’s founder Thomas James Smith being from the city. The health care sector has research facilities provided by the
University of Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...
through the Institute of Woundcare and the
Hull York Medical School Hull York Medical School (HYMS) is a medical school in England which took its first intake of students in 2003. It was opened as a part of the British Government's attempts to train more doctors, along with Brighton and Sussex Medical School, ...
partnerships. Ferry services started after the decline in fishing by the introduction of Roll-on Roll-off ferry services to the continent of Europe. These ferries handle over a million passengers each year.


Commerce


Trade

Merchant's houses such as Blaydes House and some warehouses survive in the Old Town, where trade was centred on the River Hull, later shifting to the Humber docks. Humber Quays incorporates the World Trade Centre Hull & Humber and offices for The Spencer Group, RBS, and Jon Lee. The quays was a late 2000s development costing £165 million with office buildings, housing, a 200-bedroom hotel and a restaurant.


Retail

In March 2017, the Old Town area was designated as one of 10 Heritage Action Zones by
Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...
with the benefit that the area would get a share of £6 million. Retailers such as
Heron Foods Heron Foods Ltd. (formerly Heron Frozen Foods Ltd and Grindells Butchers Ltd) is an English retail chain founded in 1979 and based in Melton with 293 stores as of 1 July 2020. It primarily sells frozen food, but has a wide range of ambient and ...
, and Jacksons began their operations in Hull. The former electrical retailer Comet Group was founded in the city as ''Comet Battery Stores Limited'' in 1933; the company's first superstore was opened in Hull in 1968. Hull has many shopping streets, both inside and outside the city centre. The main non-city-centre shopping streets are Hessle Road, Holderness Road, Chanterlands Avenue, Beverley Road, Princes Avenue, and Newland Avenue. Additionally, two covered shopping arcades, Paragon and Hepworth. The latter was modernised and renovated in the late 2000s. The city also has the Trinity Market Hall, a grade II
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
Edwardian era indoor hall with 50 stalls, it was last renovated in 2016. The city centre has three shopping centres, St Stephen's,
Princes Quay Princes Quay is a shopping centre in the heart of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The centre is unusual in that it is built on stilts over '' Prince's Dock'' after which it is named. It was opened in 1991. Description To ...
, and the Prospect Centre. The ''Prospect Centre'' on Prospect Street is the smaller and older shopping centre which benefits from large footfall; having chain stores, banks, fashion retailers and the city's main post office. ''
Princes Quay Princes Quay is a shopping centre in the heart of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The centre is unusual in that it is built on stilts over '' Prince's Dock'' after which it is named. It was opened in 1991. Description To ...
Shopping Centre'' was built in 1991 on stilts over the closed Prince's Dock. It has a mixture chain stores and food outlets. It was built with four retail floors, known as "decks", with the uppermost deck converted to a cinema from December 2007. The '' St Stephen's'' shopping centre development on Ferensway adjacent to
Hull Paragon Interchange Hull Paragon Interchange is a transport interchange providing rail, bus and coach services located in the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. The G. T. Andrews-designed station was originally named ''Paragon Station'', and togethe ...
is a scheme, that opened in 2007. It is anchored by a superstore and provides many shop units, food outlets, a hotel, and a 7-screen cinema. Since its opening, shopping patterns within the city centre have shifted to the centre from around Princes Quay. The ''North Point Shopping Centre'' (also known by as Bransholme Shopping Centre which is the area of the city it's in) contains a similar range of popular chain and budget retailers including
Boyes Boyes is a family name and may refer to: ;People * Adam Boyes (footballer) (born 1990), English semi-professional footballer * Barbara Boyes (c.1932–1981), American statistician * Brad Boyes (born 1982), American ice hockey player * Brian Bar ...
and Heron Foods. There are also a other outer centres for shopping and retail parks, including St Andrews Quay retail park on the Humber bank and Kingswood retail park (Kingswood).


Nightlife, bars and pubs

The main drinking area in the city centre is the Old Town. One pub has Hull's smallest window (The George Hotel). England's civil war was said to be started in a pub situated in the Old Town. Spiders, which opened in 1979, is an
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...
nightclub on Cleveland Street, situated in a building that was once The Hope and Anchor pub.


Culture

Hull has several museums of national importance. The city has a theatrical tradition with some famous actors and writers having been born and lived in Hull. The city's arts and heritage have played a role in attracting visitors and encouraging tourism in recent efforts at regeneration. Hull has a diverse range of architecture and this is complemented by parks and squares and a number of statues and modern sculptures. The city has inspired author Val Wood who has set many of her best-selling novels in the city. The Wilberforce Lecture and award of the Wilberforce Medallion, which has taken place annually since 1995, celebrates the historic role of Hull and
William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
in combating the abuse of human rights. In April 2013 Hull put forward a bid to be the
UK City of Culture UK City of Culture is a designation given to a city (or a local area from 2025) in the United Kingdom for a period of one calendar year, during which the successful bidder hosts cultural festivities through culture-led regeneration for the ye ...
in 2017, reaching the shortlist of four in June 2013 along with
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
,
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
and
Swansea Bay Swansea Bay ( cy, Bae Abertawe) is a bay on the southern coast of Wales. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan, River Kenfig and Clyne River flow into the bay. Swansea Bay and the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel experience a large tid ...
. On 20 November 2013,
Maria Miller Dame Maria Frances Miller'MILLER, Rt Hon. Maria (Frances Lewis)', Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2012; online edn, November 2012 ...
, the
Culture Secretary The secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department ...
, announced that Hull had won the award to become the UK City of Culture 2017.
Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
have released a version focusing on Hull, with attractions such as the Deep and St Stephens included.


Museums

The Museums Quarter is a development on the High Street in the heart of the Old Town. It combines four museums around a leisure garden. The work cost £5.1 million and was carried out from 1998 to 2003, being formally opened by the
Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curre ...
. The Museums are
Wilberforce House Wilberforce House is a British historic house museum, part of the Museums Quarter of Kingston-upon-Hull. It is the birthplace of social reformer William Wilberforce (1759–1833), who used his time as a member of Parliament to work for the ab ...
, the birthplace of
William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
(1759–1833), the
British politician The United Kingdom is a unitary state with devolution that is governed within the framework of a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy in which the monarch, currently Charles III, King of the United Kingdom, is the hea ...
,
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
and
social reformer A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...
; the Arctic Corsair, a deep-sea trawler that was converted to a museum ship in 1999, on the adjacent
River Hull The River Hull is a navigable river in the East Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. It rises from a series of springs to the west of Driffield, and enters the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. Following a period when the Archbishops o ...
; the Hull and East Riding Museum, showing the archaeology and history of the region; and the Streetlife Museum of Transport, which includes a sizeable collection of vintage cars, preserved public transport vehicles and horse-drawn carriages. Other museums include the Hull Maritime Museum in Victoria Square, the Spurn Lightship, and The Deep, a public aquarium.


Art and galleries

The civic art gallery is the Ferens Art Gallery on Queen Victoria Square, a Grade II listed building. It is named after Thomas Ferens who provided the funds for it. Other galleries include the three-storey Humber Street Gallery, in the former Fruit Market building which was opened in 2017 as part of Hull City of Culture. There are other smaller exhibition spaces.


Creations

Marine painter John Ward (1798–1849) was born, worked and died in Hull and a leading ship artist of his day. Artist and Royal Academician
David Remfry David Remfry (born 1942 in Worthing, England) is a British painter and curator. He was the Eranda Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy Schools from 2016 - 2018 and a Judge for the Royal Academy of Arts Charles Wollaston Award 2021. In ...
(born 1942) grew up in Hull and studied at the Hull College of Art (now part of Lincoln University) from 1959 to 1964. His tutor, Gerald T Harding, trained at the Royal College of Art, London and was awarded the Abbey Minor Travelling Scholarship in 1957 by the British School in Rome. Remfry has had two solo exhibitions at the Ferens Art Gallery in 1975 and 2005. Hull has a number of historical statues such as the Wilberforce Memorial in Queen's Gardens and the gilded King William III statue on Market Place (known locally as "King Billy"). There is a statue of Hull-born Amy Johnson in Prospect Street and Hull's Paragon Interchange has a statue of
Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, ''The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, ''Jill'' (1946) and ''A Girl in Winter'' (1947 ...
, the latter unveiled on 2 December 2010. In 2010 a public art event in Hull city centre entitled ''Larkin with Toads'' displayed 40 individually decorated giant toad models as the centrepiece of the
Larkin 25 Larkin 25 was an arts festival and cultural event in Kingston upon Hull, England, organised to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of the poet and University of Hull librarian, Philip Larkin. The festival was launched at Hull Truck Theatre on ...
festival. Most of these sculptures have since been sold off for charity and transported to their new owners. In recent years a number of modern art sculptures and heritage trails have been installed around Hull. These include a figure looking out to the
Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between ...
called 'Voyage' which has a twin in Iceland. In July 2011, this artwork was reported stolen. There is a shark sculpture outside The Deep and a fountain and installation called 'Tower of Light' outside Britannia House on the corner of Spring Bank. The Seven Seas Fish Trail marks Hull's fishing heritage, leading its followers through old and new sections of the city, following a wide variety of sealife engraved in the pavement. Running along Spring Bank there is also an elephant trail, with stone pavers carved by a local artist to the designs of members of the community. This trail commemorates the Victorian Zoological Gardens and the route taken daily by the elephant as it walked from its house down Spring Bank to the zoo and back, stopping for gingerbread at a shop on the way. The animals are further represented on the Albany Street 'Home Zone' a project involving local residents and resulting in sculptures of a hippo ('Water Horse') at the bottom of Albany Street; an elephant balancing on its trunk on an island in the middle; and two bears climbing poles and reaching out to each other to form an open archway across the entrance to Albany Street from Spring Bank. Other sculptural details of animals along the street represent the participation of street residents, either through workshops with artists and makers, or through independent work of their own. In 2019 a series of blue plaques appeared around Hull as part of the ''Alternative Heritage'' project. The art project was designed to celebrate the little known and quirky facts that make Hull the city it is. A variety of tongue in cheek and humorous blue plaques appeared over night celebrating everything from Chip Spice to The Beautiful South. New plaques continue to appear on a regular basis and their content has occasionally divided opinion in the city. The "Dead Bod", a graffito originally painted on the Alexandria Dock, became a local landmark. It is now located in the Humber Street Gallery.


Three Ships mural

The mural is on a curved screen attached to the end-wall of the old city centre Co-operative store building sited at the intersection where Jameson Street meets King Edward Street, now a mainly pedestrianised area created for the City of Culture 2017. Built by 1963 and later home to BHS, the building closed in 2016 with the collapse of BHS retail stores and was scheduled for demolition due to
asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
content. The building was listed as
Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
after lobbying by local pressure group Hull Heritage Action Group, potentially preventing demolition of the mural-wall. Specialist spraying to seal the building's internal structure has enabled moves to determine the actual level of asbestos in the mural-wall itself and provided a possible solution to incorporate the wall into a new development.


Theatres

The city has two main theatres. Hull New Theatre, which opened in 1939, with a £16 million refurbishment in 2016–17, is the largest venue which features musicals, opera, ballet, drama, children's shows and pantomime. The
Hull Truck Theatre Hull Truck Theatre is a theatre in Kingston upon Hull, England, which presents drama productions, and also tours. In March 2022, the theatre's original premises on Coltman Street, Hull, was recognised by a blue plaque to coincide with the theatr ...
is a smaller independent theatre, established in 1971, that regularly features plays, notably those written by
John Godber John Harry Godber (born 18 May 1956) is known mainly for observational comedies. The ''Plays and Players Yearbook'' of 1993 rated him the third most performed playwright in the UK after William Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn. He has been crea ...
. Since April 2009, the Hull Truck Theatre has had a new £14.5 million, 440 seat venue in the
St Stephen's Hull St Stephen's is a shopping centre in Kingston upon Hull that opened on 20 September 2007 and attracts more than 10 million visitors a year. The shopping centre is a brownfield site development in the city centre of Hull, England. It cost £20 ...
development. This replaced the former home of the Hull Truck Theatre on Spring Street, a complex of buildings demolished in 2011. The playwright Alan Plater was brought up in Hull and was associated with Hull Truck Theatre. Hull has produced several veteran stage and TV actors. Sir
Tom Courtenay Sir Thomas Daniel Courtenay (; born 25 February 1937) is an English actor. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Courtenay achieved prominence in the 1960s with a series of acclaimed film roles, including ''The Loneliness of t ...
,
Ian Carmichael Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including '' ...
and Maureen Lipman were born and brought up in Hull. Younger actors Reece Shearsmith, Debra Stephenson, Liam Gerrard and Liam Garrigan were also born in Hull. In 1914, there were 29 cinemas in Hull but most of these have now closed. The first purpose-built cinema was the Prince's Hall in George Street which was opened in 1910 by Hull's theatre magnate, William Morton. It was subsequently renamed the Curzon. On 25 July 2018, a new 3,000 seat
arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...
was opened to the public in the centre of the city. It was officially opened on 20 August 2018, with a
Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...
concert.


Festivals

''The Humber Mouth'' literature festival is an annual event and the 2012 season featured artists such as John Cooper Clarke, Kevin MacNeil and
Miriam Margolyes Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The ...
. The annual Hull Jazz Festival takes place around the
Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...
area for a week at the beginning of August. From 2008 Hull has also held its Freedom Festival, an annual free arts and
live music A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...
event that celebrates freedom in all its forms. Performers have included
Pixie Lott Victoria Louise Lott (born 12 January 1991), better known by her stage name Pixie Lott, is an English singer and songwriter. Her debut album, '' Turn It Up'', released in September 2009, reached number six on the UK Albums Chart and sold ov ...
, JLS and
Martha Reeves and The Vandellas Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1972 as Martha Reeves & The Vandellas) were an American vocal girl group formed in Detroit in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown. An act founded by friends Annette Beard, Rosalin ...
, Public Service Broadcasting and
The 1975 The 1975 are an English pop rock band formed in 2002 in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Now based in Manchester, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matthew "Matty" Healy, lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald, and drummer ...
as well as featuring a torchlight procession, local bands like The Talks and Happy Endings from Fruit Trade Music label and a Ziggy Stardust photo exhibition including photos of the late-Hull-born
Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...
who worked with
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
. Former United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...
was awarded the Wilberforce Medallion at the 2017 festival. Early October sees the arrival of Hull Fair which is one of Europe's largest
travelling funfair A traveling carnival (US English), usually simply called a carnival, or travelling funfair (UK English), is an amusement show that may be made up of amusement rides, food vendors, merchandise vendors, games of chance and skill, thrill acts, ...
s and takes place on land adjacent to the MKM Stadium. The city's
Pride in Hull Pride in Hull is an annual LGBT Pride celebration held in the city of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It takes the form of a parade followed by a large scale day-long music festival. Pride in Hull is organised by a board ...
festival is one of the largest free-to-attend LGBT+ Pride events in the UK, attracting in excess of 50,000 attendees. Headline performers have included Adore Delano, Louise Redknapp,
Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. ...
,
Nadine Coyle Nadine Elizabeth Louise Coyle (born 15 June 1985) is an Irish singer, actress and model. In 2002, Coyle was selected as a member of the girl group Girls Aloud, with whom she has been successful in achieving a string of 20 consecutive UK top te ...
of
Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...
, Alaska Thunderfuck and
B*Witched B*Witched are an Irish girl group consisting of twin sisters Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O'Carroll. Originally active between 1997 and 2002, they enjoyed success in both Europe and North America between 1998 and 2002, r ...
. The Hull Global Food Festival held its third annual event in the city's Queen Victoria Square for three days – 4–6 September 2009. According to officials, the event in 2007 attracted 125,000 visitors and brought some £5 million in revenue to the area. In 2007 the Hull Metalfest began in the Welly Club, it featured major label bands from the United States, Canada and Italy, as well as the UK. The first Hull Comedy Festival, which included performers such as Stewart Lee and Russell Howard was held in 2007. In 2010, Hull marked the 25th anniversary of the death of the poet Philip Larkin with the
Larkin 25 Larkin 25 was an arts festival and cultural event in Kingston upon Hull, England, organised to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of the poet and University of Hull librarian, Philip Larkin. The festival was launched at Hull Truck Theatre on ...
Festival. This included the popular ''Larkin with Toads'' public art event. The 40 Larkin toads were displayed around Hull and later sold off in a charity auction. A charity appeal raised funds to cast a life-size bronze statue of Philip Larkin, to a design by Martin Jennings, at
Hull Paragon Interchange Hull Paragon Interchange is a transport interchange providing rail, bus and coach services located in the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. The G. T. Andrews-designed station was originally named ''Paragon Station'', and togethe ...
. The statue was unveiled at a ceremony attended by the Lord Mayor of Hull on 2 December 2010, the 25th anniversary of Larkin's death. It bears an inscription drawn from the first line of Larkin's poem, '
The Whitsun Weddings ''The Whitsun Weddings'' is a collection of 32 poems by Philip Larkin. It was first published by Faber in the United Kingdom on 28 February 1964. It was a commercial success, by the standards of poetry publication, with the first 4,000 copie ...
'. In 2013, from 29 April to 5 May, Hull Fashion Week took place with various events happening in venues in and around Hull's City centre. It finished with a finale on 5 May at
Hull Paragon Interchange Hull Paragon Interchange is a transport interchange providing rail, bus and coach services located in the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. The G. T. Andrews-designed station was originally named ''Paragon Station'', and togethe ...
, when recently reformed pop group
Atomic Kitten Atomic Kitten is an English girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998, whose current members are Liz McClarnon, Jenny Frost and Natasha Hamilton. The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey and Stuart ...
appeared in a celebrity fashion show. on 24 June 2017, The first Yellow Day Hull event, organised by Hull-born Preston Likely, was staged. Likely invited everybody in the city to participate in the event, encouraging all participants to either wear, carry or make something yellow in order to celebrate the city's history and culture. On 3 August 2013, the second Humber Street Sesh Festival took place celebrating local music talent and arts, with several stages showcasing bands and artists from the Fruit Trade Music Label, Humber Street Sesh and Purple Worm Records. In 2018, the 16th
Pride in Hull Pride in Hull is an annual LGBT Pride celebration held in the city of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It takes the form of a parade followed by a large scale day-long music festival. Pride in Hull is organised by a board ...
festival saw attendees take part in the annual celebration of LGBT+ culture.


Cultural references


Poetry

Hull has attracted the attention of poets to the extent that the Australian author Peter Porter has described it as "the most poetic city in England". Philip Larkin set many of his poems in Hull; these include "
The Whitsun Weddings ''The Whitsun Weddings'' is a collection of 32 poems by Philip Larkin. It was first published by Faber in the United Kingdom on 28 February 1964. It was a commercial success, by the standards of poetry publication, with the first 4,000 copie ...
", "Toads", and "Here". Scottish-born Douglas Dunn's ''Terry Street'', a portrait of working-class Hull life, is one of the outstanding poetry collections of the 1970s. Dunn forged close associations with such Hull poets as Peter Didsbury and Sean O'Brien; the works of some of these writers appear in the 1982 Bloodaxe anthology ''A Rumoured City'', a work that Dunn edited.
Andrew Motion Sir Andrew Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and audio reco ...
, past
Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...
, lectured at the University of Hull between 1976 and 1981, and Roger McGough studied there. Both poets spoke at the Humber Mouth Festival in 2010. Contemporary poets associated with Hull are
Maggie Hannan Maggie Hannan (born 1962) is an English poet, formerly based in Hull, now living in County Sligo, Ireland. She is the author of a single 'but highly influential' collection of poetry, ''Liar, Jones''. She won the Eric Gregory Award in 1990. She was ...
, David Wheatley, and Caitriona O'Reilly. 17th-century
metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
poet and parliamentarian
Andrew Marvell Andrew Marvell (; 31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend ...
was born nearby, grew up and was educated in the city. There is a statue in his honour in the Market Square (Trinity Square), set against the backdrop of his alma mater
Hull Grammar School Hull Grammar School was a secondary school in Hull, England, founded around 1330 and endowed in 1479 by the prelate John Alcock. In 1988, as part of a restructure by the Local Education Authority, the site was renamed William Gee School. Meanwh ...
.


Music


Classical

In the field of classical music, Hull is home to Sinfonia UK Collective (formerly Hull Sinfonietta, founded in 2004), a national and international touring group that serves Hull and its surrounding regions in its role as Ensemble in Residence at University of Hull, and also the
Hull Philharmonic Orchestra The Hull Philharmonic Orchestra (colloquially known as ''The Hull Phil'') is an amateur orchestra based in Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of York ...
, one of the oldest amateur orchestras in the country. and formerly The Hull Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, established in 1952, the Hull Choral Union, the Hull Bach Choir – which specialises in the performance of 17th- and 18th-century choral music – the Hull Male Voice Choir, the Arterian Singers and two Gilbert & Sullivan Societies: the Dagger Lane Operatic Society and the Hull Savoyards are also based in Hull. There are two brass bands, the East Yorkshire Motor Services Band, who are the current
North of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
Area Brass Band Champions, and East Riding of Yorkshire Band who are the 2014 North of England Regional Champions within their section. Hull City Hall annually plays host to major British and European symphony Orchestras with its 'International Masters' orchestral concert season. During the 2009–10 season visiting orchestras included the St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the
Czech National Symphony Orchestra The Czech National Symphony Orchestra (ČNSO or CNSO) ( cs, Český národní symfonický orchestr) is a Czech symphony orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra principally gives concerts at the Smetana Hall, Municipal House (''Smetanova síň ...
. Internationally renowned touring pop, rock, and comedy acts also regularly play the City Hall. In September 2013 a five-year partnership with the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...
was announced by the City Council.


Rock, pop and folk

On the popular music scene, in the 1960s,
Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...
of the Hull band ''Rats'' worked closely with
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
and was heavily involved in production of the album ''
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (often shortened to ''Ziggy Stardust'') is the fifth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 16June 1972 in the United Kingdom through RCA Records. It was co-pr ...
''. Ronson later went on to record with
Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades ...
,
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
,
Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since th ...
and
the Wildhearts The Wildhearts are an English rock band, formed in 1989 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band's sound is a mixture of hard rock and melodic pop music, often described in the music press as combining influences as diverse as the Beatles and 1980s- ...
. There is a Mick Ronson Memorial Stage in Queen's Gardens in Hull. The 1960s were also notable for the revival of English folk music, of which the Hull-based quartet, the Watersons were prominent exponents.
The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
performed and recorded a concert, at the Hull City Hall, on 15 February 1970. In the 1980s, Hull groups such as the
Red Guitars Red Guitars were an English indie rock band active from 1982 to 1986. Based in Hull, Red Guitars' first single "Good Technology" was a minor hit, selling 60,000 copies. Their singles "Marimba Jive" and "Be With Me" both reached number one o ...
,
the Housemartins The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christianit ...
and Everything but the Girl found mainstream success, followed by
Kingmaker A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a royal or political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious and military means to influence the succession. Origina ...
in the 1990s.
Paul Heaton Paul David Heaton (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter. He was the frontman of the Housemartins, who had success with the singles " Happy Hour" and the UK number one "Caravan of Love" in 1986 before disbanding in 1988. He then form ...
, former member of
the Housemartins The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christianit ...
went on to front the Beautiful South. Another former member of the Housemartins, Norman Cook, now performs as
Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist ...
. In 1982, Hull-born Paul Anthony Cook, Stuart Matthewman and Paul Spencer Denman formed the group Sade. In 1984, the singer Helen Adu signed to CBS Records and the group released the album ''Diamond Life''. The album had sales of four million copies. The pioneering industrial band
Throbbing Gristle Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pioneers of industrial music. Evol ...
formed in Hull;
Genesis P-Orridge Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson; 22 February 1950 – 14 March 2020) was a singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmissions ar ...
(Neil Megson) attended Hull University between 1968 and 1969, where he met
Cosey Fanni Tutti Cosey Fanni Tutti (born Christine Carol Newby; 4 November 1951) is an English performance artist, musician and writer, best known for her time in the avant-garde groups Throbbing Gristle and Chris & Cosey. Tutti first performed under the name ...
(Christine Newby), who was born in the city, and first became part of the Hull performance art group COUM Transmissions in 1970. The record label
Pork Recordings Pork Recordings is a record label based in Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, England, that specialises in electronica, mostly in the downtempo or chill-out styles. Formed in the early 1990s by David "Porky" Brennand and Steve Cobby, its m ...
started in Hull in the mid-1990s, and has released music by Fila Brazillia. The New Adelphi is a popular local venue for alternative live music in the city, and has achieved notability outside Hull, having hosted such bands as
the Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, ...
,
Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...
,
Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a ...
, and
Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
in its history, while the Springhead caters to a variety of bands and has been recognised nationally as a 'Live Music Pub of the Year'. In the 2000s, Hull
indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...
band
The Paddingtons The Paddingtons are an English indie rock band from Hull. Between April 2005 and 9 November 2006, they played over 150 live shows, including venues such as Trent Park Golf Club, The Square, Harlow; Jersey Live; Summercase; The Underground ...
saw mainstream success with two UK Top 40 singles in 2005, later reforming in 2014 and performing at the Humber Street Sesh with notable bands such as Sulu Babylon and Street Parade. In the 1990s, the duo Scarlet from Hull had two Top 40 hits with " Independent Love Song" and "I Wanna Be Free (To Be With Him)" in 1995. The Humber Street Sesh night has released four DIY compilations featuring the cream of Hull's live music scene, and there are currently a few labels emerging in the city, including Purple Worm Records based at
Hull College Hull College is a Further Education and Higher Education establishment based in Kingston upon Hull, England. It provides vocational courses, apprenticeships, Higher Education and adult learning courses, with a focus on equipping young peop ...
, with bands such as The Blackbirds showing a promising future.


Religion

Unlike many other English cities, Hull has no cathedral. Since 13 May 2017, the Holy Trinity Church (dating back to 1300) became a Minster, known as
Hull Minster Hull Minster is the Anglican minster and the parish church of Kingston upon Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The church was called Holy Trinity Church until 13 May 2017 when it became Hull Minster. History It is the largest p ...
. It is a part of the
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...
Diocese of York The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The diocese is headed by the ...
and has a suffragan bishop. Hull forms part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough's southern vicariate.
St Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat ...
is the oldest post-Reformation Roman Catholic church in the city. There are several seamen's missions and churches in Hull. The Mission to Seafarers has a centre at West King George Dock and the St Nikolaj Danish Seamen's Church is located in Osborne Street.


Parks and green spaces

Hull has a large number of parks and green spaces. These include East Park,
Pearson Park Pearson Park, originally known as the People's Park is a park in the west of Kingston upon Hull, England. It is situated about north-west of the city centre of Hull with its main entrance on Beverley Road and its western boundary adjoining ...
, Pickering Park, Peter Pan Park (Costello Playing fields), and West Park. West Park is home to Hull's MKM Stadium. Pearson Park contains a lake and a 'Victorian Conservatory' housing birds and reptiles. East Park has a large boating lake and a collection of birds and animals. East Park and Pearson Park are registered Grade II listed sites by
Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...
. The city centre has the large Queen's Gardens parkland at its heart. This was originally built as formal ornamental gardens used to fill in the former Queen's Dock. It is now a more flexible grassed and landscaped area used for concerts and festivals, but retains a large ornamental flower circus and fountain at its western end. The streets of Hull's suburban areas also lined with large numbers of trees, particularly the Avenues area around Princes Avenue, and Boulevard to the west. Many of the old trees in the Avenues district have been felled in recent years with the stumps carved into a variety of 'living sculptures'. Other green areas include the University area and parts of Beverley Road to the north. West Hull has a district known as 'Botanic'. This recalls the short-lived Botanic Garden that once existed on the site now occupied by
Hymers College Hymers College is a co-educational independent day school in Kingston upon Hull, located on the site of the old Botanical Gardens. It is one of the leading schools in the East Riding of Yorkshire and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistres ...
. Elephants once lived nearby in the former Zoological Gardens on Spring Bank and were paraded in the local streets. The land has since been redeveloped. There was also a former Botanic Garden between Hessle Road and the Anlaby Road commemorated by Linnaeus Street.


Media

Hull's only local daily newspaper is the longstanding ''
Hull Daily Mail The ''Hull Daily Mail'' is an English regional daily newspaper for Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The ''Hull Daily Mail'' has been circulated in various guises since 1885. A second edition, the ''East Riding Mail'', covers ...
'', whose circulation area covers much of the East Riding of Yorkshire too. A free paper, ''The Hull Advertiser'', used to be issued weekly by the same publisher. The city was once served by three competing daily newspapers, all operating from the Whitefriargate area ''Eastern Morning News'', ''Hull News'' and ''Hull and East Yorkshire Times''. On 17 April 1930 the last edition of ''Evening News'' was published after the paper was taken over by its longstanding rival the ''Hull Daily Mail''. Local listings and what's-on guides include ''Tenfoot City Magazine'' and '' Sandman Magazine'' (combined into single volume covering all of England, print version then made defunct in favour of online site). The BBC has its '' Yorkshire and Lincolnshire'' regional headquarters at Queen's Gardens, from which the regional news programme '' Look North'' is broadcast. Radio services broadcasting from the city are
community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popu ...
stations, Hull Kingston Radio, 106.9 West Hull FM (formerly WHCR FM) and Hospital radio station
Kingstown Radio Kingstown Radio is a hospital radio station founded in 1961 and based in Kingston upon Hull, England, broadcasting on 1350 kHz (AM), to patient's bedside Hospedia systems and via the local NHS intranet across the Hull and East Yorkshire ...
. The BBC's regional station
BBC Radio Humberside BBC Radio Humberside is the BBC's local radio station serving East Yorkshire and North & North East Lincolnshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Queen's Gardens in Hull. According to RAJAR, the statio ...
is also based in Hull and broadcasts to East Yorkshire & Northern Lincolnshire. Commercial stations for the city
Viking FM Viking FM is an Independent Local Radio station based in Sheffield, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to the East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. As of September 2022, the s ...
and
Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire is a radio station regional sub-network serving Yorkshire, Lincolnshire & the North Midlands as part of Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio network. Whilst all programming is shared either across the region, or national ...
(formerly KCFM broadcast from outside of Hull and are now part of a national network like
Capital Yorkshire Capital Yorkshire is a regional radio station owned by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcasts to South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire from studios in Leeds, West Yorkshire, E ...
which has a base over away in
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...
. The Hull University Union's student radio station
Jam 1575 Hull University Students' Union (HUSU) is the students' union for the University of Hull in Kingston upon Hull, England. It is run as a completely separate entity to the university itself but enjoys a close working partnership with the Unive ...
, stopped broadcasting on MW. On 24 November 2013 a RSL (
Restricted Service Licence A UK Restricted Service Licence (often called an RSL), is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event. Licences are granted by the broadcasting authority Ofc ...
) was given to new station "Hull Community Radio" broadcasting on 87.9 FM.


Sport

Sports in the city include professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
,
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
,
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
,
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
,
darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...
,
athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
, and
watersports Water sports or aquatic sports are sport activities conducted on waterbodies, and can be categorized according to the degree of immersion by the participants. On the water * Boat racing, the use of powerboats to participate in races * Boatin ...
. The city's professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
club,
Hull City A.F.C. Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
, play in the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
, the second tier of the
English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...
, after promotion, as champions, from League One, at the first time of asking, in the 2020–21 season. The team play at the MKM Stadium. There are also two non-league clubs based in the city, Hall Road Rangers, who play at Haworth Park, and Hull United, who play at Steve Prescott Centre. Both play in the
Humber Premier League The Humber Premier League is a football competition for clubs in the East Riding of Yorkshire and north Lincolnshire areas of England. History The league was formed in 2000. Reckitts won the league five times in the first six seasons of its ex ...
. Hull is also a
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
hub, in the
Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...
competition is Hull FC, who alongside the city's football club
Hull City A.F.C. Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
, play at the MKM Stadium. Also in Super League are
Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...
, who play at Sewell Group Craven Park Stadium in East Hull, following promotion from the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
in 2017. There are also several lower league teams in the city, such as East Hull,
West Hull West Hull A.R.L.F.C. is an amateur rugby league football club from Kingston upon Hull, currently playing in the National Conference League Premier Division. The team plays their home matches at West Hull Community Park and their strip colours a ...
,
Hull Dockers Hull Dockers ARLFC is an amateur rugby league team from Kingston upon Hull, with teams ranging form U4 (diddy dockers) to open age playing in the National Conference League. They currently play their home matches at The Willows, Holderness Road ...
and Hull Isberg, who all play in the
National Conference League The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone Press National Conference League for sponsorship reasons) is the top English amateur rugby league competition in the Rugby Football League pyramid, and as such is the leading amateur rugby l ...
.
Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
is catered for by
Hull Ionians Hull Ionians is a rugby union club in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The first team play in English rugby's National League 2 North, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their relegation from National League 1 ...
who play at
Brantingham Brantingham is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, about north of Brough, west of Hull and north of the A63 road. The 2011 UK Census gave the parish had a population of 370, marking a decrease from the 2001 ...
Park. and Hull RUFC who are based in the city. They both play in the National league 2 North. The city has two athletics clubs based at the Costello Stadium in the west of the city – Kingston upon Hull Athletics Club and Hull Achilies Athletics Club. Hull Cycle Speedway Club is at the Hessle raceway near the Humber bridge. The side race in the sports Northern league and won both the league titles in 2008. Other cycling clubs also operate throughout the city including Hull Thursday, the area's road racing group.
Hull Arena Hull Arena (originally Humberside Ice Arena and known locally as the Hull Ice Arena) is an ice rink, in the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. It has a capacity of 3,750 people. The Hull Arena is also a concert venue, playing host to numer ...
, is an
ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
and concert venue, which is home to the Hull Seahawks
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...
team who play in the NIHL National Division for the 2022–23 season. It is also home to the Kingston Kestrels
ice sledge hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilitat ...
team. In August 2010, ''Hull Daily Mail'' reported that Hull Stingrays was facing closure, following a financial crisis. The club was subsequently saved from closure following a takeover by Coventry Blaze. But on 24 June 2015, the club announced on its official website that it has been placed into liquidation. The Hull Hornets
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
existed from 2005 until 2011. The club, which acquired full member status in the British American Football League on 5 November 2006, played in the BAFL Division 2 Central league for 5 years. The
Humber Warhawks The Humber Warhawks are a British American football team based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire who play in the BAFA NFC South 2. The club represent the counties of East Yorkshire and North East Lincolnshire by taking their name from the H ...
formed in 2013 are now Hull's American football team. Greyhound racing returned to the city on 25 October 2007 when The Boulevard stadium re-opened as a venue for the sport. In mid-2006 Hull was home to the professional wrestling company One Pro Wrestling, which held the Devils Due event on 27 July in the Gemtec Arena. From 16 May 2008, Hull gained its own homegrown wrestling company based at the Eastmount Recreation Centre—New Generation Wrestling—that have featured the likes of
El Ligero Simon Musk (born 7 January 1985) is an English professional wrestler better known under his in-ring persona of masked Mexican luchador, El Ligero (or simply Ligero). He is most known for his time in WWE, on their NXT UK brand. Professional wre ...
, Kris Travis, Martin Kirby and
Alex Shane Alexander Daniel Spilling (born 15 November 1979) is a British professional wrestler and professional wrestling commentator who is best known by his ring name "The Showstealer" Alex Shane. Spilling also works as a promoter, wrestling coach and ...
. Hull Lacrosse Club was formed in 2008 and currently plays in the Premier 3 division of the North of England Men's Lacrosse Association. The city played host to the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, a tough race around the globe, for the 2009–10 race which started on 13 September 2009 and finished on 17 July 2010. The locally named yacht, Hull and Humber, captained by Danny Watson, achieved second place in the 2007–2008 race. The city hosted The British Open Squash Championships at the KC Stadium in 2013 and 2014, before moving to the adjacent
Airco Arena The Sports Arena also known as the Tigers Trust Arena (formerly the Airco Arena the Bonus Arena, Gemtec Arena and the Vulcan Arena) is a sports centre located next to the MKM Stadium in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Th ...
in 2015, as part of a three-year deal. Swimming is hosted at Beverley Road Baths, Woodford Leisure Centre, the Ennerdale Centre, and Albert Avenue Baths. Albert Avenue pools were established in 1933, with an outdoor pool which shut to swimmers in 1995, but has been used for canoe training. A major refurbishment to upgrade the complex and return outdoor swimming was announced in 2021. Included are a fitness studio, gym and general upgrades.


Transport


Roads

The main road into and out of Hull is the
M62 motorway The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of th ...
/ A63 road, one of the main east–west routes in
Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...
. It provides a link to the cities of
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...
,
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
and
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
, as well as the rest of the country via the UK motorway network. The motorway itself ends some distance from the city; the rest of the route is along the A63 dual carriageway. This east–west route forms a small part of the European road route E20. Hull is close to the Humber Bridge, which provides road links to destinations south of the Humber. It was built between 1972 and 1981, and at the time was the longest single-span
suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical ...
in the world. It is now eighth on the
list A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
. Before the bridge was built, those wishing to cross the Humber had to either take a Humber Ferry or travel inland as far as
Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. According to the 2011 UK census, Goole parish had a population of 19,518, an increa ...
. Bus services are provided by Go-Ahead Group company
East Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...
(previously known as East Yorkshire Motor Services) and
Stagecoach in Hull Stagecoach in Hull is a bus operator providing services in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach East Midlands, a subdivision of the Stagecoach Group. History Stagecoach in Hull's origins c ...
which cover the city's central, suburban and industrial areas. To provide greater travel flexibility, bus users can obtain a 'Hull Card' which can be used on services run by either operator. Road transport in Hull suffers from delays caused both by the many bridges over the navigable River Hull, which bisects the city and which can cause disruption at busy times, and from the remaining three railway
level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...
s in the city. The level-crossing problem was greatly relieved during the 1960s by the closure of the
Hornsea Hornsea is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The settlement dates to at least the early medieval period. The town was expanded in the Victorian era with the coming of the Hull and Hornsea Railway in 18 ...
and
Withernsea Withernsea is a seaside resort and civil parish in Holderness, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Its white inland lighthouse, rising around above Hull Road, now houses a museum to 1950s actress Kay Kendall, who was born in the town. The ...
branch lines, by the transfer of all goods traffic to the high-level line that circles the city, and by the construction of two major road bridges on
Hessle Hessle () is a town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, west of Kingston upon Hull city centre. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of ...
Road (1962) and
Anlaby Anlaby is a village forming part of the western suburbs of Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Anlaby with Anlaby Common. History Anlaby is recorded in the '' Domesday Book'' as ...
Road (1964). A nearby road was renamed from Garrison Road to Roger Millward Way in 2018, after rugby player Roger Millward who played for
Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...
. The developments are part of a wider improvement and redevelopment scheme.


Other

Hull Paragon Interchange Hull Paragon Interchange is a transport interchange providing rail, bus and coach services located in the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. The G. T. Andrews-designed station was originally named ''Paragon Station'', and togethe ...
, opened on 16 September 2007, is the city's transport hub, combining the main bus and rail termini in an integrated complex. It is expected to have 24,000 people passing through the complex each day. There are services that run to certain other parts of the UK. These include through expresses to
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, up to seven per day provided by
Hull Trains Hull Trains is an open-access railway operator in England owned by the multinational transport company FirstGroup. It operates long-distance passenger services between Hull / Beverley and London King's Cross. It has a track-access agreement u ...
and one a day by
London North Eastern Railway London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by the DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Fou ...
. Other long-distance rail services are provided by
TransPennine Express TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major ci ...
serving
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...
and
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
.
Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail N ...
operates regular local stopping trains to , and , and the coastal towns of
Bridlington Bridlington is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 ...
and Scarborough, along with services to
Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...
,
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
,
Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
and
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...
.
P&O Ferries P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferries from United Kingdom to Ireland, and to Continental Europe (France, Belgium and the Netherlands). The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisitions within P&O. It ...
provide daily overnight ferry services from King George Dock in Hull to
Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...
and
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...
. Services to Rotterdam are worked by ferries MS '' Pride of Rotterdam'' and . Services to Zeebrugge are worked by ferries MS '' Pride of Bruges'' and MS ''Pride of York'' (previously named ). Both ''Pride of Rotterdam'' and ''Pride of Hull'' are too wide to pass through the lock at Hull.
Associated British Ports Associated British Ports owns and operates 21 ports in the United Kingdom, managing around 25 per cent of the UK's sea-borne trade. The company's activities cover transport, haulage and terminal operations, ship's agency, dredging and marine cons ...
built a new terminal at Hull to accommodate the passengers using these two ferries. The Rotterdam Terminal at the
Port of Hull The Port of Hull is a port at the confluence of the River Hull and the Humber Estuary in Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Seaborne trade at the port can be traced to at least the 13th century, originally con ...
, was built at a cost of £14,300,000. The nearest airport is Humberside Airport, away in
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
, which provides a few charter flights but also has high-frequency flights to Amsterdam with
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...
and Aberdeen with Eastern Airways each day. Doncaster Sheffield Airport in South Yorkshire is from Hull city centre and provides a wider choice of charter flights as well as a number of low-cost flights to certain European destinations. The nearest airport with intercontinental flights is Leeds Bradford Airport is away. According to the 2001 census data cycling in the city is well above the national average of 2%, with a 12% share of the travel to work traffic. A report by the University of East London in 2011 ranked Hull as the fourth-best cycling city in the United Kingdom. In March 2021, a new footbridge was opened connecting the city to
Princes Quay Princes Quay is a shopping centre in the heart of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The centre is unusual in that it is built on stilts over '' Prince's Dock'' after which it is named. It was opened in 1991. Description To ...
waterfront, marina and fruit market over Castle Street, a dual carriageway road also designated A63 road, A63. Named ''Murdoch's Connection'' after Hull's first female doctor, GP Mary Murdoch (Hull), Mary Murdoch, the name was nominated by pupils from Newland School for Girls in Newland, Kingston upon Hull, Newland, Hull. Works began in autumn 2018 but progress was delayed due to the COVID-19, coronavirus pandemic. There was no opening ceremony due to distancing restrictions; instead, videos were compiled. Members of the public have been requested not to attach love locks.


Infrastructure


Telephone system

Hull is the only city in the UK with its own independent telephone network company, KCOM, formerly KC and Kingston Communications, a subsidiary of KCOM Group. Its distinctive cream telephone booth, telephone boxes can be seen across the city. KCOM produces its own 'White Pages' telephone directory for Hull and the wider KC area. Colour Pages is KCOM's business directory, the counterpart to Yellow Pages. The company was formed in 1902 as a municipal department by the City Council and is an early example of municipal enterprise. It remains the only locally operated telephone company in the UK, although it is now privatised. KCOM's Internet brands are Karoo Broadband (ISP serving Hull) and Eclipse (national ISP). Initially Hull City Council retained a 44.9 per cent interest in the company and used the proceeds from the sale of shares to fund the city's sports venue, the MKM Stadium, among other things. On 24 May 2007 it sold its remaining stake in the company for over £107 million. KCOM (Kingston Communications) was one of the first telecoms operators in Europe to offer Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, ADSL to business users, and the first in the world to run an interactive television service using ADSL, known as Kingston Interactive TV (KiT), which has since been discontinued due to financial problems. In the last decade, the KCOM Group has expanded beyond Hull and diversified its service portfolio to become a nationwide provider of telephone, television, and Internet access services, having close to 180,000 customers projected for 2007. After its ambitious programme of expansion, KCOM has struggled in recent years and now has partnerships with other telecommunications firms such as BT who are contracted to manage its national infrastructure. Telephone House, on Carr Lane, the firm's 1960s-built headquarters, in stark modernist style, is a local landmark. In October 2019, Hull became the first UK city to have full fibre broadband available for all residents. In July 2021, KCOM formed a partnership with home entertainment provider ZYBRE, offering Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire something different with a combination of ultrafast fibre broadband, cloud gaming and customisable TV.


Hydraulic power

The first public hydraulic power network, supplying many companies, was constructed in Hull. The Hull Hydraulic Power Company began operation in 1877, with Edward B. Ellington as its engineer and the main pumping station (now a Grade II listed building) in Catherine Street. Ellington was involved in most British networks, including those in London,
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
, Birmingham,
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
and Glasgow, but the advent of electrical power combined with wartime damage meant the Hull company was wound up in 1947.


Public services

Policing in Kingston upon Hull is provided by Humberside Police. In October 2006 the force was named (jointly with Northamptonshire Police) as the worst-performing police force in the United Kingdom, based on data released from the Home Office. However, after a year of "major improvements", the Home Office list released in October 2007 shows the force rising several places (although still among the bottom six of 43 forces rated). Humberside Police received ratings of "good" or "fair" in most categories. Hull (HM Prison), HM Prison Hull is located in the city and is operated by HM Prison Service. It caters for up to 1,000 Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category B/C adult male prisoners. Fire service in the United Kingdom, Statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, which has its headquarters near Hessle and five fire stations in Hull. This service was formed in 1974 following local government reorganisation from the amalgamation of the East Riding of Yorkshire County Fire Service, Grimsby Borough Fire and Rescue Service, Kingston Upon Hull City Fire Brigade and part of the Lincoln (Lindsey) Fire Brigade and a small part of the West Riding of Yorkshire County Fire and Rescue Service. Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust provides healthcare from three sites, Hull Royal Infirmary, Castle Hill Hospital and, until 2008, Princess Royal Hospital, Kingston upon Hull, Princess Royal Hospital and there are several private hospitals including ones run by BUPA and Nuffield Hospitals. The Yorkshire Ambulance Service provides emergency patient transport. NHS primary health care services are commissioned by the Hull Clinical Commissioning Group and are provided at several smaller clinics and general practitioner surgeries across the city. NHS Mental health services in Hull are provided by Humber NHS Foundation Trust. It runs a memory clinic in Coltman Street, west Hull designed to help older people with early onset dementia. Waste management is co-ordinated by the local authority. The Waste Recycling Group is a company which works in partnership with the Hull City and East Riding of Yorkshire councils to deal with the waste produced by residents. The company plans to build an energy from waste plant at Salt End to deal with 240,000 tonnes of rubbish and put waste to a productive use by providing power for the equivalent of 20,000 houses. Hull's distribution network operator for electricity is CE Electric UK (Yorkshire Electricity, YEDL); there are no power stations in the city. Yorkshire Water manages Hull's drinking water, drinking and waste water. Drinking water is provided by boreholes and aquifers in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and it is abstracted from the River Hull at Tophill Low, near Hutton Cranswick. Should either supply experience difficulty meeting demand, water abstracted from the River Derwent, Yorkshire, River Derwent at both Elvington, City of York, Elvington and Loftsome Bridge can be moved to Hull via the Yorkshire water grid. There are many reservoirs in the area for storage of potable and non-potable water. Waste water and sewage has to be transported in a wholly pumped system because of the flat nature of the terrain to a sewage treatment works at Salt End. The treatment works is partly powered by both a wind turbine and a biogas CHP engine.


Education


Higher education


University of Hull

Kingston upon Hull is home to the
University of Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...
, which was founded in 1927 and received its Royal Charter in 1954. It now has a total student population of around 20,000 across its main campuses in Hull and Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough. The main University campus is in North Hull, on Cottingham Road. Notable alumni include former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, social scientist Lord Anthony Giddens, ''Woman's Hour'' presenter and writer Jenni Murray, and the dramatist Anthony Minghella. The University of Hull is a partner in the new University Centre of the Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education (GIFE) being built in Grimsby, North Lincolnshire.


University of Lincoln

The University of Lincoln grew out of the University of Humberside, a former polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic based in Hull. In the 1990s the focus of the institution moved to nearby Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln and the administrative headquarters and management moved in 2001. The University of Lincoln has retained a campus in George Street in Hull city centre whilst Hull University purchased the adjacent University of Lincoln campus site on Cottingham Road.


Specialist

Hull York Medical School Hull York Medical School (HYMS) is a medical school in England which took its first intake of students in 2003. It was opened as a part of the British Government's attempts to train more doctors, along with Brighton and Sussex Medical School, ...
is a joint venture between the University of Hull and the University of York. It first admitted students in 2003 as a part of the British government's attempts to train more doctors. The Northern Academy of Performing Arts and Northern Theatre School both provide education in musical theatre, performance and dance. The Hull School of Art, founded in 1861, is regarded nationally and internationally for its excellence as a specialist creative centre for higher education.


Colleges

There is a further education college,
Hull College Hull College is a Further Education and Higher Education establishment based in Kingston upon Hull, England. It provides vocational courses, apprenticeships, Higher Education and adult learning courses, with a focus on equipping young peop ...
, and two large sixth form colleges, Wyke College and Wilberforce College. East Riding College operates a small adult education campus in the city, and Endeavour Learning and Skills Centre is an adult education provision operated by HCC Training, Hull Training & Adult Education.


Schools

Hull has over List of schools in Hull, 100 local schools; of these, Hull City Council supports 14 secondary and 71 primary schools. The highest achieving state school in Hull is Malet Lambert School,Schools which are independent of the City Council include
Hymers College Hymers College is a co-educational independent day school in Kingston upon Hull, located on the site of the old Botanical Gardens. It is one of the leading schools in the East Riding of Yorkshire and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistres ...
and Tranby School. The latter, which is run by the United Church Schools Trust, was formed by the merging of Hull Grammar School and Hull High School. Hull Trinity House Academy has been offering pre-sea training to prospective mariners since 1787. There are only two single-sex schools in Hull: Trinity House Academy, which teaches only boys, and Newland School for Girls. The city has had a poor examination success rate for many years and is often at the bottom of government GCSE league tables. In 2007 the city moved off the bottom of these tables for pupils who achieve five A* to C grades, including English and Maths, at General Certificate of Secondary Education by just one place when it came 149th out of 150 local education authorities. However, the improvement rate of 4.1 per cent, from 25.9 per cent in 2006 to 30 per cent in summer 2007, was among the best in the country. They returned to the bottom of the table in 2008 when 29.3 per cent achieved five A* to C grades which is well below the national average of 47.2 per cent. There are insufficient places in referral units for school children with special needs or challenging behaviour due to squeezed budgets and cuts to children's services.


Dialect and accent

The local Accent (dialect), accent is quite distinctive and noticeably different from the rest of the East Riding; however it is still categorised among Yorkshire dialect and accent, Yorkshire accents. The most notable feature of the accent is the strong I-mutation in words like ''goat'', which is in standard English and across most of Yorkshire, becomes ("''gert''") in and around parts of Hull (cf. similar ''refined'' pronunciations in
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...
/
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
), although there is variation across areas and generations. In common with much of England (outside of the far north), another feature is dropping the H from the start of words, for example Hull is more often pronounced 'Ull in the city. The vowel in "Hull" is pronounced the same way as in northern English, however, and not as the very short that exists in Lincolnshire. Though the rhythm of the accent is more like that of northern Lincolnshire than that of the rural East Riding, which is perhaps due to migration from Lincolnshire to the city during its industrial growth, one feature that it does share with the surrounding rural area is that an sound in the middle of a word often becomes an : for example, "five" may sound like "fahve", "time" like "tahme". The Square-nurse merger, SQUARE~NURSE merger is a feature of Hull's dialect. The vowel sound in words such as ''burnt, nurse, first'' is pronounced with an sound, as is also heard in Middlesbrough and in areas of
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
yet this sound is very uncommon in most of Yorkshire. The word pairs spur/spare and fur/fair illustrate this. The generational and/or geographic variation can be heard in word pairs like pork/poke or cork/coke, or hall/hole, which some people pronounce almost identically, sounding to non-locals like they are using the second of the two variations – while others make more of a vocal distinction; anyone called "Paul" (for example) soon becomes aware of this (pall/pole).


Notable people

:''Most of the notable people associated with the city can be found in the :People from Kingston upon Hull, People from Kingston upon Hull and :People associated with the University of Hull, People associated with the University of Hull categories.'' People from Hull are called "Hullensians" and the city has been the birthplace and home to many notable people. Amongst those of historic significance with a connection to Hull are former city MP
William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
who was instrumental in the abolition of slavery and Amy Johnson, aviator who was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Entertainers from the city include; Dorothy Mackaill, 1950s singer David Whitfield, sports commentator Tony Green, actors Sir
Tom Courtenay Sir Thomas Daniel Courtenay (; born 25 February 1937) is an English actor. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Courtenay achieved prominence in the 1960s with a series of acclaimed film roles, including ''The Loneliness of t ...
,
Ian Carmichael Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including '' ...
, John Alderton and more recently Reece Shearsmith. and actress Maureen Lipman. Playwrights Richard Bean,
John Godber John Harry Godber (born 18 May 1956) is known mainly for observational comedies. The ''Plays and Players Yearbook'' of 1993 rated him the third most performed playwright in the UK after William Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn. He has been crea ...
and Alan Plater have close connections with Hull. Musicians associated with Hull include
Paul Heaton Paul David Heaton (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter. He was the frontman of the Housemartins, who had success with the singles " Happy Hour" and the UK number one "Caravan of Love" in 1986 before disbanding in 1988. He then form ...
of The Housemartins and The Beautiful South, guitarist
Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...
and bassist Trevor Bolder, who worked with
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
, and more recently 2000s indie band
The Paddingtons The Paddingtons are an English indie rock band from Hull. Between April 2005 and 9 November 2006, they played over 150 live shows, including venues such as Trent Park Golf Club, The Square, Harlow; Jersey Live; Summercase; The Underground ...
. The astrophysicist Edward Arthur Milne and logician John Venn both hailed from Hull. The poet
Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, ''The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, ''Jill'' (1946) and ''A Girl in Winter'' (1947 ...
lived in Hull for 30 years and wrote much of his mature work in the city. Artist
David Remfry David Remfry (born 1942 in Worthing, England) is a British painter and curator. He was the Eranda Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy Schools from 2016 - 2018 and a Judge for the Royal Academy of Arts Charles Wollaston Award 2021. In ...
RA studied at Hull College of Art before moving to London and New York. Chemist George William Gray, George Gray, who had a 45-year career at the university, developed the first stable liquid crystals that became an immediate success for the screens of all sorts of electronic gadgets. Notable sportspeople include Ebenezer Cobb Morley (16 August 1831 – 20 November 1924), an English sportsman and is regarded as the father of the Football Association and modern football. Clive Sullivan, rugby league player, who played for both of Hull's professional rugby league teams, was the first black Briton to captain any national representative team. The main A63 road into the city from the Humber Bridge is named after him (Clive Sullivan Way). Nick Barmby played for Tottenham Hotspur, Middlesbrough, Everton, Liverpool, and Leeds United before returning to play for his hometown club Hull City. He also won 23 England caps and played in the famous 5–1 victory over Germany in 2001. Another footballer is Dean Windass, who had two spells with Hull City. On accepting a peerage, Welsh-born Baron Prescott of Kingston-upon-Hull (former MP and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott) took his title from his adopted home city of Hull.


International relations

Hull has formal Town twinning, twinning arrangements with *Chișinău, Moldova *Freetown, Sierra Leone *Niigata, Niigata, Niigata, Japan *Raleigh, North Carolina, United States *Reykjavík, Iceland *
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...
, Netherlands *Szczecin, Poland The following cities are named directly after Hull: * Hull, Massachusetts, United States * Hull, Quebec, Canada


Freedom of the City

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Kingston upon Hull.


Individuals

* The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu : 2 July 1987. * Helen Suzman Order of the British Empire, DBE: 2 July 1987. * Nelson Mandela : 2 July 1987. * John Prescott, Rt Hon John Prescott: 1 August 1996. * Kevin McNamara (politician), Kevin McNamara Order of St Gregory the Great, KSG: 16 January 1997. * Jean Bishop – "Bee Lady": 23 November 2017. * Tom Courtenay, Sir Thomas Courtenay: 18 January 2018. * Yvonne Blenkinsop: 15 November 2018. * Carol Thomas: 22 September 2022. * Patrick Doyle: 17 November 2022.


Military Units

* The East Yorkshire Regiment: 1 June 1944. * The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire: 5 June 1958. * The Yorkshire Regiment: 16 November 2006. * The Royal Dragoon Guards * 2nd East Riding Artillery Volunteers, 440 (Humber) light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery (Army Reserve (United Kingdom), TA): 28 June 1960. * 2nd East Riding Artillery Volunteers, 440 (Humber) light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery (Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorials): 3 August 1967. * RAF Patrington: 16 May 1970. * 150 Regiment RLC, 150(N) Transport Regiment Royal Corps of Transport (Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Volunteers): 1 February 1990. * RRH Staxton Wold: 3 March 1994. * 150 Regiment RLC, 150 (Yorkshire) Transport Regiment Royal Logistic Corps (Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Volunteers): 3 March 1994. * , Royal Navy, RN: 3 March 1994. * 250th Field Ambulance (Volunteer Unit): 15 July 1999. * Hull Unit Sea Cadets (United Kingdom), Sea Cadet Corps: 27 February 2014.


See also

*Grade I listed churches in the East Riding of Yorkshire *Land of Green Ginger *Trams in Kingston upon Hull *Trolleybuses in Kingston upon Hull *Hull triple trawler tragedy (1968) *Sculcoates power station *History of the Jews in Hull *List of Jews from Kingston upon Hull *Rollits LLP


Notes

:There was no census in 1941: figures are from National Register. United Kingdom and Isle of Man. Statistics of Population on 29 September 1939 by Sex, Age and Marital Condition. :The ''Hull Daily Mail'' article indicates the 1991 population was 254,117. :There is a discrepancy of 6 between Office for National Statistics figures (quoted before) and those on the ''Vision of Britain'' website (quoted here). :The ''Hull Daily Mail'' article indicates the 2001 population was 246,355.


References


Bibliography

* * *


External links


Hull City Council

"Hull's City of Culture bid film revealed to the public" – BBC News article,12 November 2013

Hull History Centre – A Brief History of Hull
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hull, Kingston upon Kingston upon Hull, 1291 establishments in England Trading posts of the Hanseatic League Ports and harbours of Yorkshire Ports and harbours of the Humber Unitary authority districts of England Port cities and towns in Yorkshire and the Humber Port cities and towns of the North Sea Staple ports Populated coastal places in the East Riding of Yorkshire Cities in Yorkshire and the Humber Local government districts of Yorkshire and the Humber Populated places established in the 13th century Local government districts of the East Riding of Yorkshire Unparished areas in the East Riding of Yorkshire Towns in the East Riding of Yorkshire Former non-metropolitan districts of Humberside Boroughs in England